


Generations 21: A House Is Where A Woman's Heart Is

by Fier



Series: Generations [23]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, Aunts & Uncles, F/M, Fluff, Home Improvement, In-Laws, Married Couple, Married Life, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:46:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26095099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fier/pseuds/Fier
Summary: A pregnant Dana falls in love with a house. Mulder feels the domesticity tightening unbearably.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Series: Generations [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857445
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** A House Is Where A Woman's Heart Is  
>  **Authors:** Macspooky, Eowyn Evenstar
> 
> Macspooky here with another "Generations" story. I wrote this one myself with input from Eowyn and Juliettt. I guess by now you have already vacationed in Ireland, and laughed your way through Eowyn's "Nothing But Trouble" which makes me giggle everytime I think of it, and enjoyed her "Baby Trouble" as well. I'm so lucky to have found two wonderful co-writers!!!! Anyway, we are on to the next little "benchmark" in life, the kind that gives men fits...well the ones I know anyway. All comments, flames, etc. can be sent to me at macspooky@erols.com.
> 
> (I'd probably rate this one R just because it deals with some of the more intimate aspects of pregnancy than some mom's might want their kids to know about. None of it is negative, it's just all part of it and life, and a wonderful part of life it is too!)
> 
> All the same old disclaimrs still apply. The same great folks still own Xfiles, the characters, etc. I've written enough disclaimers for this series that if they didn't know who they were before they should now on the very very very off chance that the planets are out of alignment and they have read them.

"Come on, Sweetheart, we are going to be late," said Dana picking up her purse. She looked at her husband and smiled. She never thought she could be so excited about a visit to the doctor's office.

"Uh...Dana....love, isn't this kind of a woman's thing? I mean, wouldn't it be better if your mom went?" Fox asked her nervously. "I mean couldn't you sort of coordinate your visits or something?" He was really nervous about her first appointment with the obstetrician and found himself with a very real case of cold feet. In fact, he wanted to run. He might have to watch while they stuck her with needles or something.

"Don't you want to be part of it, Fox?" she asked softly. She looked so hurt, that he couldn't really express his trepidation. Besides, after the hell he had given Skinner about going with Margaret, he'd better get over it, he decided.

"Of course I do, Shorts," he said slipping his arms around her. "Every moment of it." He kissed her forehead. "I just thought your mom..well, you know..." This seemed to appease her, and he sighed with relief. The last thing he wanted to do was anything that would hurt her just now. He still believed he had a lot to atone for after her miscarriage several months ago. He had made up his mind to be extra solicitous of her this time around. The trouble was he really hated doctors. Well, he had faced mutants and aliens, green bugs and clones. Could an obstetrician's office be any worse?

"Then let's go." Dana knew he was a little nervous. He'd been trying not to act like a mother hen since she had done the pregnancy test and it had been a definite positive. She couldn't convince him that except for throwing up every morning and at the sight or smell of fish, she was fine. She felt so entirely different from the way she had the first time that she simply knew everything was going to be okay. The fact that she had a tendency to be teary eyed hadn't helped much. Of course, if it were between that and throwing up.... 

Her friend from medical school, Amy Chan had an office right in Kalorama, and they entered the waiting room.

"Hi, Nancy," said Dana to the receptionist.

"Hi, Dana," smiled the pretty young woman, "This must be Fox. The doctor is running just a bit behind. Why don't you have a seat and start filling out forms."

"Sure," smiled Dana. Amy would give them professional courtesy of course, but she might as well collect whatever the insurance would pay. Dana had put her name on her husband's insurance and taken out a family plan as soon as they had gotten married, something he hadn't even thought about, at least until that moment.

"Dana, will the insurance?"

"I took care of it, love," she said with a grin. He was hopeless in some ways, not that they didn't have enough money anyway.

They sat down and Fox looked around him with great trepidation. The office was packed with women in various stages of pregnancy, some not showing, others as big as a house. He seemed to be the only man in the place, and they all seemed to be looking at him. He was beginning to empathize with Skinner now. Worse, many of them had other children along, lots of other children. Some of them cried, some whined, some were in the midst of temper tantrums, one was demanding loudly to go potty, and each and every one of them seemed to have green stuff dripping from his or her nose. 

One woman eased herself out of the chair ever so slowly and with great difficulty. Bending over in defiance of the realms of possibility, in fact, it seemed, the laws of gravity, she lifted a toddler and literally waddled down the hallway to the bathroom.

"Ah, jeez," he thought, "is Dana gonna look like that?" His first thought was rather selfish. It would rather kill their sex life. He chastised himself and then decided that he didn't think he could stand to see his wife suffer the discomfort or indignity of waddling. Dana was definitely not the waddling type. She wouldn't take well to it. "How did women do it anyway?" Suddenly there was a scream, and a bottle of some nasty brownish looking fluid flew in his direction. Being athletic, he caught it but not before the plastic bag popped and leaked all over his designer pants.

"I'm so sorry," said a poor harassed looking mother. "Oh, my....." The cost of the pants he was wearing hit her like a cold wet washcloth flung in anger.

"Uh...don't worry about it," said Fox quickly. Poor thing was the size of a house too. Didn't these women believe in birth control of something? He wiped at his pants leg with his handkerchief while his wife looked at him with concern and sincerely hoped that this was not going to turn into a debacle the way it had the morning she had dragged him to the Safestop Supermarket or the day he and Skinner had ended up caring for all the kids.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Uh...yeah....fine....I'm just fine..." he said thinking "F**K, I'm a freaking FBI Agent who has been doused by alien blood. What the hell is a little formula? It isn't as though I haven't worn Dani's lunch before."

"I love you, honey," she whispered and went back to filling out forms.

He was smiling at one pretty little redheaded girl when a big bruiser of a boy, who couldn't have been more than two, dashed in his direction, wiped a giant green glob off his nose with his sleeve and with the speed of light, smeared it all over Fox's knee.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry...." said the mother. "He's just a little monster....That's not nice, Lester." Lester looked at him and made a raspberry, spittle flying, before his mom could drag him back to the chair. He gave Mulder an evil grin as if to say, "See, I got away with it." Mulder wiped his face.

Again, Dana looked at him with concern. She was accustomed to dealing with this sort of thing, but he was pretty new at it. She didn't want him turned off before they even got started. On the other hand, he and Skinner HAD handled all those babies....or was it the other way around? Of course, those kids had been family. That was different, sort of.

"I think," he muttered between clenched teeth glaring at little Lester, "that I am beginning to understand my father a little better. The word spanking comes to mind."

"Itchy fingers huh?" she asked breaking into a giggle. "You just wait, Fox Mulder. This little critter I'm carrying will so enchant you, you'll think a glob of snot is the greatest thing in the world."

"Yeah, right," he muttered picking up a copy of "Mother-to-Be Magazine" and started reading an article on yeast infections during pregnancy. "Whoopee....Well, Dana wasn't going to get one of those...absolutely no way..."

One young woman, magazine in hand, turned to another and said, "I think I'm going to have my hair permed like this after the baby is born...."

"Don't waste your time thinking about it, hon" said Lester's mother calmly. "It's all going to fall out anyway!"

"What an awful thing to be telling her, Sadie!" said another experienced mother.

"Dana," he whispered, "Is your hair going to fall out?" He was starting to panic, to have nightmare visions of Dana bald... with yeast infections.

"It doesn't all fall out," she replied, "just some from the hormone changes, but it grows back quickly. Most women don't even notice it very much." 

"Oh, okay...." he replied.

"How would you know?" demanded Lester's mother looking directly at her. "Mine fell out by the handfuls....."

"Because I'm a doctor," replied Dana, "and not one of my patients has ever gone bald from having a baby."

Fox sat there and smirked. Should he tell them? Nah. They didn't need to know she was a forensic pathologist."

"Now don't you pay that lady no never mind," said a heavy set black woman patting the poor younger woman's shoulder, "This is my fifth, and I still have every hair on my head."

"Oh, well, that is a relief," replied the first time mom.

Gargantua woman picked up little Lester and waddled off toward the bathroom, insulted. Fox watched her go. She must have weighed close to 300 lbs, all of it sloppy, and he noted with some amusement, she had a braid falling down her back that had to be at least two inches around, all of it greasy. He was beginning to wonder why anyone would want to be a doctor.

"Sheesh," muttered another. "Next she'll be telling us about her six month labor...." 

"None of my patient's has ever had one of those either," quipped Dana wickedly. Everyone laughed and people began to relax again. Fox flipped the pages in the magazine and found an article about breast feeding. This was interesting. Hmm.....Dana was going to get huge....Now that might be something to see. If she kept most of her hair and....."

* * *

"God, what a zoo!" laughed Amy as she entered the examination room. "Hi, Fox. Glad you could make it. Thought I might end up with a mother/daughter team, but your mom comes again tomorrow. I'm keeping a real close eye on her."

"Did Sadie's hair really fall out?" Fox inquired abruptly just to make certain. He hadn't really met any postpartum bald women but....

"Ah, yes....Sadie.....no....but she loves to scare the patients. She was in labor for six months you know. Never mind that the baby popped out in less than half an hour." Amy asked all kinds of questions and started drawing blood, vial after vial it seemed. Normally she would have had her nurse do it, but she didn't often get the chance to chat with Dana and it gave her a few extra minutes.

"Doesn't she need some of that?" inquired Fox alarmed.

"There will be plenty left..." she chuckled. "He's going to be one of the difficult ones isn't he, Dana?"

"He is going to be one of the impossible ones...You'll be getting two.." she replied.

"Oh, you mean Walter," she replied with a chuckle. "I think he has already had the FBI run a background check on me." They laughed and got started talking about a night they had been on rotation together in ob during a power blackout. Dana, it seemed, had delivered her first baby by flashlight, and she hadn't even graduated medical school yet. Fox listened with a great deal of discomfort. What if he got Dana to the hospital and Amy couldn't get there? He didn't want some medical student delivering his kid. What if the power went out....what if there were a nuclear war....oh, hell...apparently the baby had lived and everything had been fine. He admonished himself to stop thinking about it.

Finally, Amy told her friend to assume the position.

"Uh, I guess I'll leave," said Fox uncomfortably feeling rather like a fifth wheel.

"Why? Don't tell me you haven't seen it all before," laughed Amy. 

"Uh, oh...well...uh...okay....." He suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here. Their bedroom was one thing, but there was another woman in the room and......well, heck, it wasn't one of his videos, the kind he used to watch. 

"I like to take the glamour out of it for the dads," she explained with a wink. Amy was amused at his discomfort. Dana had told her once in a rare moment of frankness that he could be a real wild thing in the bedroom. Now he suddenly seemed shy. She showed him how Dana's cervix was turning slightly blue and announced that she had a mild yeast infection.

"Oh, joy...." said Fox. "Always did hate cottage cheese."

"What?" asked Dana glad to have the reason for recent discomfort confirmed.

"Uh...nothing...I was just reading about them in the waiting room between globs of snot..." Amy tried to contain her laughter.

Dana snorted and slid back up the table.

"Sadie's kid got you huh?" asked Amy finally.

"When will you do all the tests? You know, sonograms, amniocentesis?" asked Fox.

"She won't," said Dana.

"But...."

"I'm under 35 and in good health."

"But don't you want to make sure everything is okay? Skinner said Mom would be having them."

"Pregnancy is a natural phenomena, not a disease," replied Amy quietly. "And, to be quite frank, I do far less of that kind of testing than most doctors today. I don't believe we know what the full effects are yet, and unless there is reason to believe that there is some problem, I'd rather not. I would like to do one early sonogram because of the miscarriage, Dana. Would that be okay?"

"Certainly," she said.

Dr. Chan gave Fox a reassuring pat. "Don't you worry. Everything will be just fine. Remember, I was heavily influenced by Dana's grandmother who was a wonderful mid- wife."

Now that did make him feel better. If Gran had believed that all these tests were unnecessary, then he didn't have a problem with it either. Well... maybe...

"But what about..."

"Like I said, difficult," laughed Amy. "Fox, I am monitoring Aunt Margaret so closely because of her age, although to be frank I'm not really worried. I would be more concerned if this was her first baby at her age."

"Okay," he coincided finally. 

He helped Dana dress and dodged Lester who now had chocolate covered hands, just barely, as they left the office.

* * *

Fox slipped his arm around her as they walked up the street. "Come on, short stuff....Let's go for a late lunch at Antonio's....."

"Okay," she smiled. The examination had gone well. Amy had given her the list of dos and don'ts as if she didn't already know. Her husband had survived the Similac and green goo, and the day was lovely. The morning sickness was past for the day, and she was feeling very happy, more so since she now definitely knew the source of recent discomfort and could do something about it.

Tony greeted them with his usual effusiveness and sat them at their favorite table. Fox ordered a glass of wine and lasagna, and Dana ordered pasta in a basil tomato sauce with a salad and a glass of ice tea.

"No ice tea, Dana.." Fox said. "You're pregnant."

"Fox, I absolutely have to have an ice tea....with lemon Tony, lots of lemon....please....."

"No ice tea....it's got caffeine....."

"Fox, let's not lose perspective here. My mom lived on tea when she was pregnant. So did Gran....."

"No ice tea...you heard what the doctor said...and don't tell me that you are a doctor because your patients don't get pregnant....."

At this, Tony had to laugh inspite of himself. He knew that Mrs. Mulder was a forensic pathologist. He congratulated them, and announced that he would not become embroiled in the argument. He would let his wife settle it. A few minutes later, Mary cruised in with a pitcher of ice tea and a plate full of lemons and set it down.

"Congratulations, love," she said. "Havin a cravin for the acid are you?"

"All the time...." said Dana.

"I have six healthy strapping daughters, and had at least one cup of tea everyday...." she smiled at Fox. "Don't you be worryin'. The misses here will be just fine...."

"Okay, okay....I know when I'm licked," he muttered. 

"Thanks, Mary," smiled Dana.

"Well, we're lucky to have men to mother hen us, but we can't let them get carried away...." With that she was back to the kitchen.

"Fox," said Dana quietly, "If I drink this, you are really going to worry aren't you?"

"Yes..." he said sullenly. He didn't like not getting his own way, and he was going to worry...about everything.

"It seems kind of minor...I mean in light of God knows what I've been exposed to...."

"You are going to be stubborn aren't you, Dana?" he asked looking at her. Sometimes she made him so angry. They had lost one baby......No, that was unfair. Pregnant women did crave things. He admonished himself to relax, but darn it, Amy had said stay away from caffeine.

"I tell you what....just half a glass, okay. I really have a craving.....then we can stop at the store and get some herb tea....Okay?"

"Fair enough...." he acknowledged looking at her. He bent over and kissed her gently. Stubborn as she could be, he did love her ever so much. Strange, he realized that it was really kind of a control issue. She was carrying his child, and he really had very little say in what was happening. He felt helpless, powerless, even with the woman who he trusted with his life. Then he watched in astonishment as she squeezed lemon wedge after lemon wedge into the half a glass of ice tea, and drank it with great gusto. His lips were puckering just thinking about it.

"Dana?" he asked a little sheepishly.

"What, sweetie?"

"Why didn't you just order lemon aid?"

She looked at him taken aback for a moment then burst out laughing.

"I didn't think of it," she informed him.

* * *

They walked home slowly arm in arm. It was hot, but without the horrible humidity Washingtonians were so accustomed to living with in summer.

"Happy, Fox?" she asked him.

"Oh, yeah," he replied. He stopped and gazed down at her. "My life is very close to being perfect right now." He kissed her right there on the street, and they continued on their way Dana thinking how very much she wished they could find Sam and make his life absolutely perfect.

Suddenly, something caught Dana's eye.

"Oh, look, Fox, there's an open house. Let's go in and look...." 

"Dana, I'm not interested in houses...besides, it looks like its falling down...."

"Oh, please..." she asked. "A very old man lived here, and really couldn't keep it up any longer, but I've always been curious about the inside....The architecture is so lovely and I love the stained glass on the windows."

"Oh, alright," he sighed, "but when we get home, I get to watch the ballgame in peace." _Sure looks like a dump to me. What is it with women and houses?_

"You can discuss that with Thing and Krycek," she laughed as they ducked across the tree lined street.

Entering a wrought iron gate into a small front yard, they climbed elaborately ornate wrought iron steps with lovely wrought iron railings. The house was semi-detached and entered into a central foyer with stairs going to the second level. Above the door was a beautiful stained glass window depicting a blue sky and clouds. Somehow, it didn't quite fit the period of the house. 

To the left was a living room, not large, but with a working fireplace and beautiful mantel, and lovely, though in need of repair, moldings. The turret was in that part of the house and there was a beautiful bay window with a lovely window seat. The kitchen was very large and comfortable though built earlier in the century. The paint was peeling, but the glass front cabinets once again had lovely stained glass, now covered with grime. There was a real service porch off the back opening unto a flagstone patio and the remains of what had once been a lovely garden. Although it needed all new appliances, Dana knew that she loved it.

"Oh, look, Fox....a garage..." she said with delight looking out the back window. "I bet it was a stable once...and this service porch...perfect for a washer/dryer...."

Fox was starting to get a very bad feeling about this, a feeling that grew worse when they found a powder room on the main floor and Dana discovered that the dining room had real mahogany built in china cabinets and book cases from floor to ceiling along one wall although much of the glass was cracked. Once again, there was a lot of lovely stained glass. There was also a small office/library with floor to ceiling bookshelves. This was not good.

They meandered upstairs. Three bedrooms, two small, but perfect for children! Dana stopped and looked up. In the transom over one bedroom door there was a stained glass depiction of Noah's Ark. In the other small bedroom, guardian angels. Fox winced as she stared entranced. There was a great big old fashioned bathroom like the one in her apartment awaiting someone, or maybe two, to soak in the huge claw foot tub that was in desperate need of refinishing. It still had a pull chain flush. The master bedroom had a working fireplace as well, and off to one side was a small sitting room with a wall rounded like the turret.

"Oh, Fox, what a lovely place to put the crib," she said softly. Where Fox saw filth and decay, Dana saw potential, and with Bill being a master carpenter and contractor that specialized in restoring old houses and with Chris, his partner being an electrical engineer, and Jen being an interior decorator, Dana's mind was already racing.

Fox felt the noose tightening around his neck. He actually started to choke when a real estate agent walked in the door and began his pitch. Well, at least Dana had sense enough to look impassive.

"And, of course, there is storage area in the basement with a 3 1/2 room rental unit....in need of some work of course...."

Air....he needed air....desperately.....

"Well, this place needs an awful lot of work," said Dana. "I'm not very impressed by its condition....but you might as well show us..."

Fox rolled his eyes heavenward. The ceiling was covered with rusty stains. The roof leaked. The damn roof leaked. Oh, jeez....the wheels were turning in Dana's brain, and water poured in through the roof every time it rained.

* * *

"No," he said, "Absolutely not....don't even think about it." 

"No, what?" she asked him. She hadn't said a word. She had planned to, but she hadn't... yet.

"No....we are not going to buy that house...."

"Couldn't we just get my brother to look at it, Fox? It's got everything we need including a great location. Paying rent is killing us with taxes....."

"No...forget it....absolutely not. We are staying right where we are..." He headed to the kitchen and got a beer leaving her standing there growing more angry by the second. He returned to the living room, popped the top and took a long slug. He really felt as though he needed it.

"Oh, and just where am I supposed to put the baby?" she asked her hand on her hip. Thing hopped into Mulder's lap and started sniffing the beer can.

"Damn dog's an alcoholic," he muttered. "We'll find room. We'll move things around. No house...."

"Well, what if I don't want to move things around?"

He got to his feet dumping the dog rather unceremoniously on the floor. Krycek started to screech, Help, Murder....Up and at 'er, Mulder...." He walked over toward her and glared down at her. The ballgame blared in the background.

"Look, you said if I went with you to look at the f**king house, you'd leave me in peace to watch the ballgame." He was really scared. She looked determined. A determined Dana was a formidable creature.

"But, you won't even talk to me....."

"I don't want to. I want to watch the ballgame, and if you won't let me, I'll go somewhere where I can....." He started to storm out the door.

"Fox, no..." she cried angrily throwing herself between him and the door...

"You promised....you promised you wouldn't walk out on me like that....It would be just like Christmas.....just like Martha's Vineyard.....Not now...not when I'm...like this..." She glared up at him. He had started this, now he wanted to walk away. Well this time, he wasn't going to get away with it.

"Get out of my way..." he snapped. He glared down at her.

"You walk out this door Fox Mulder and you can damn well find another place to sleep tonight."

He took a step forward toward her, and she backed away, a look of fear crossing her face for an instant. Her heel caught on one of Thing's toys and she nearly fell. He caught her, and suddenly pulled her close.

"Oh, God...Oh, my God, Dana....I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He found himself shaking, not because he had done anything but because she had, for a very brief instant, thought he might. She had not forgotten last Christmas. 

"You promised. You promised you wouldn't walk out on me again....." she said softly.

"You're right, Angel...." he said softly, "I wasn't going to push you...I wouldn't hit you. You don't ever have to run away from me." He looked down at her and smoothed her hair away from her face. He was shaking. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's just....It's so much responsibility all at once.....and I...."

She put her arms around him. "It's okay, Spook," she said softly. "I'm sorry too. It's my fault. I shouldn't have backed away from you like that, and I know you would never, ever hurt me. Let's not fight." She looked up at him and forced a smile. She supposed he couldn't really comprehend that now that she had chosen to have a family, she wanted a nursery to decorate, and all the pretty little clothes to ooh and aah over. That was okay. Her Fox had always been...unique. "I'll make a deal with you....." She could feel him trembling. He was really upset because she had thought she had grounds to fear him and hurt because she thought he might. They both knew that the potential for violence was there, always had been, and he hated himself for it, hated it when he came close to slipping over the abyss, but she also knew that he never would and should have shown more faith.

"What sort of a deal, Shorts?" he asked still cursing himself silently for last Christmas, for making her afraid even for an instant.

"We'll stay here, but I'll ask the landlord to give us a preference if a two bedroom becomes vacant, okay?"

"Okay, Sweetheart....." he said softly. "I love you more than anything....and I'm sorry I lost my temper."

"That's okay. You've been going through a lot of changes lately. This pregnancy business is tough on a guy." She smiled at him, a real smile this time, and hid her disappointment. She also gave him an extra hug. As long as she had him, a house or anything else didn't matter.

They turned. The beer had spilled and was dripping to the floor. There wouldn't be much to clean up, however, because Thing was lapping away happily. 

"Squawk....Squawk......What's the score Krycek....What's the score Krycek......"

They burst out laughing. For once the bird had learned to say something that wasn't dirty and very appropriate because poor Fox had no idea. The dog staggered off to a corner and passed out. Dana got him another beer, kissed the top of his head and let him watch the game in peace.


	2. Chapter 2

The phone in the office rang just as he was getting ready to leave.

"Mulder,"

"Hi, Mulder, care to join me for lunch?"

"Can't, Scully....have some things I need to do....Maybe tomorrow."

"Oh,"A bit of disappointment crept into her voice, "Well, okay. I'll see you later for dinner."

"Sure...bye..." He hung up quickly. At the other end, Scully frowned puzzled. She wondered if he had anyone else in his office. He hadn't sounded quite like himself. In the end, she decided just to have a sandwich at her desk and go over some files.

Fox had thought and thought. Finally he had decided that he would take another look at the house on his own, but they had been sent on a case out in Ohio, one which he had hoped would turn into a lead on his sister. Alas, it had proved to be another hoax, the dangerous kind that had left three dead teenagers. The only satisfaction was in knowing that they had put the perp behind bars. When they had returned, he had hoped to find the house sold, but naturally, the For Sale sign was still there. It also looked as dismal as it had before. He had kept a promise he had made to himself though and had made an appointment with the real estate agent to take another look. This time, he brought Dana's mother, a sensible woman whose judgement he trusted.

"Hmm..." she said as they approached the house. "Doesn't look like much does it, except for that lovely turret."

"Look's like a dump to me, Mom," he said hopefully. She reached down into the dirt. "Not bad soil. A pretty little garden and some new shudders would do wonders for the outside here. Front yard's small. No grass to cut."

"Uh, oh..." he thought. He helped his mother-in-law up.

"Are you certain you should be bending like that, Mom?" he asked.

Margaret smiled at him. "Oh, I'm not doing bad for an old lady." The two of them walked around the back.

"Oh, my," she said. An inveterate gardener, she knew expensive shrubs when she saw them. " Oh, Fox, how sad to let this go to seed like this!" She began rooting around. "Look, Fox...." Covered over by a shrub that should have been groomed there was a statue of fat little man with pointed ears and a grin.

"That sure is ugly..." he laughed.

"No it's not. It's the god of little boys," she smiled. "I bet the former owner had sons. I could turn this into something beautiful, and there is plenty of room on the patio for a little sandbox, and you could put a baby swing on that tree. Margaret found herself picturing her own baby in that swing with some nostalgia. A little more rooting revealed what had once been a lovely bronze sundial but which now needed polishing. Margaret commented that it was a very decent sized yard for a city house, definitely big enough for small children to play in and well contained.

Fox did find himself studying the garage with interest, and the high brick wall along the back and sides of the yard were an excellent security feature....a little broken glass on top.....hmm....No...No way.....On the other hand, with a garage he could get that nice little convertible he had been eying with lust in his heart....uh...uh.....kill that thought..

Returning to the front, they met with the real estate agent who showed them through the house. Margaret waxed ecstatic about the potential....Potential nightmare...thought Fox listening to her. She sounded just like his wife....baby swings...sandboxes....what was she rambling about...painting the door dark blue with a claddagh knocker....Oh, God...the beauty of that goddamed stained glass. _If I want stained glass I'll move into a church dammit._ He wanted to run.

"Can I give you a word of advise, Fox," asked Margaret when she had finished polking through every corner and they were on their way back to their cars.

"That's why I brought you along, Mom," he said.

"Don't close your mind to it, Fox. Right now, you are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the up and coming responsibility. It's a lovely house with plenty of room to expand downstairs. At least let Bill take a look at it and have the structure examined. Then, you can make your decision based on that....."

"Okay, mom.....I'll do that.....I'll call Bill later."

"And, don't offer them too much," she smiled. "There are three other houses for sale on the block in far better condition..." She winked and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "See you soon.."

Margaret drove off and Fox found himself wondering how she knew that there were other houses nearby in better condition. "No," he thought, "I'm just being paranoid again."

* * *

"I thought maybe we might go to a movie tonight, sweetheart," Dana said putting the dinner dishes in the sink. She was very tired, but sensed a restlessness in him that had been there for days. The hoax on their last case had been a real disappointment to him. All leads on his sister had gone dead....nothing.....They had talked about it. Fox had asked her what she thought of his theory that maybe it hadn't been the shadow government who had taken Samantha. What if someone of something else had gotten there first? Dana hadn't known what to think. She had seen that object in the sky and so had Skinner. It frightened her. She was a direct descendent of Gran, and the child they were producing was a Mulder. She had changed the subject quickly. She didn't want to talk about it or even think about it. She just wanted to have her baby and feel safe for a little while or at least pretend to. 

"Can't honey, I've got something I have to do..." he said kissing her neck. "I'm not sure what time I'll be back."

"Can I come?" she asked.

"Not this time....."

"Fox....."

"Gotta run, sweetie....be back later...."

She stood there looking after him thoughtfully. Great. Now she would spend the whole night worrying about what sort of dangerous thing he might be getting into. She shuddered. If she lost him now.......

* * *

"Needs a new roof," said Bill, "and of course some ceiling repair. I'd replace the furnace and the central air which was added later. The service porch is no problem to enclose for a laundry room. All in all, most of the work is cosmetic. It's got good sound construction. A good paint job, some floor refinishing maybe an update on the kitchen and some work in the bathroom..." He gave Fox an estimate on what it would take to make the place livable. He then went on to explain that the stained glass was of very high quality but not typical, that it seemed almost as though the owner had made and installed it him or herself. Fox was really starting to hate that glass except perhaps for the transom with the guardian angel...an angel to watch over his baby girl. For an instant he was lost in a fantasy of telling his little girl stories about guardian angels and making her feel safe and warm. 

"You think I should do it?" asked Fox snapping out of his reverie.

"I'll tell you something, Fox, children in an apartment are not fun. If you can pick this place up for the right price and are willing to put something into it, I think you'd have a fine home for many years to come, but if you decided you hated it, you could either rent it or sell it. I doubt you'd make the profits of the 80's, but I don't think you'd lose anything either. I wouldn't mind buying it for an investment myself if you didn't want it."

"Oh, wow..." thought Fox. Aloud he merely spluttered.

"Noose is tightening huh buddy?" laughed Bill. "You just wait, Mulder....You ain't seen nothing yet. C'mon. I'll buy you a drink and we can discuss cars. I really need to buy one of those new mini-vans...Buy this house Mulder and with what I'll make fixing it, I'll be able to afford one..." He slipped his arm around his brother-in-law's neck and choked him briefly. "O'Toole's is right up the street...."

* * *

"You know, Mulder, this is a very decent house. You'd have no problem renting it with every change of administration for big bucks...."

"Me a landlord?" he laughed.

"Why not?" asked Skinner. "Meg checked out the schools. There are several excellent private schools in the area including one that is Catholic. There is a top notch day care center and nursery school.....I don't see where you have anything to lose." Skinner had been pleased that Mulder had asked his advise. They had been a bit uncomfortable around each other since the day that he had passed out in his office in front of Mulder. 

"Except my sanity...." muttered Mulder. Now the chair was being pulled out from beneath him as the rope tightened around his neck.

"Since when have you ever been sane?" inquired Skinner.

Fox simply laughed, but in the back of his mind he was wondering why Meg was checking out schools and daycare centers. They had a house already and an apartment co-op.

* * *

It was a horrible scare. Fox thought he would die of the fright. He had tried to make love to Dana ever so gently, but it had hurt, and she had begged him to stop. Once the minor infection had cleared it hadn't been a problem and it had taken him by surprise. He had stopped immediately, of course, but the next morning she had started to spot. She had come out of the bathroom looking like death. He didn't think he had ever seen her so frightened. All their certainty that this baby would live flew out the window in the face of a few spots of blood. They had called Amy and raced to Georgetown hospital. Fortunately, a sonogram had revealed nothing was wrong. It had just been a slight shift in the placenta. Although it was very early, Amy said she was pretty sure it was going to be a little girl. That at least made Fox smile inside as he thought of his guardian angel fantasy. She had admonished Dana to rest. His heart had begun to beat normally....almost.... and they very nearly relaxed again. He had blamed himself, and nothing would reassure him.

* * *

"Oh, my," said Dana holding up the two little outfits that arrived from his half sister's in the mail. One was from Amy, a little blue sailor suit because she claimed Dana was going to have a boy. The other was a precious little pink dress from Jenny, who just knew it was going to be a girl. The enclosed letter said they had been fighting about it, so their mom had told them to buy one of each thing and send it. Then Ruth had sent a box full of tiny things, practical little things, all sorts of cute little pajamas and stretch suits in neutral colors with Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, and best of all Looney Tunes characters, and enough little undershirts for triplets. Dana and Fox laughed with delight at one little suit with flying saucers on it. Dana suspected another box had gone to her mom's. It was strange, but when Ruth had heard the news she had called Dana's mom, and according to Skinner they had talked for a long time about having babies later in life. The conversation had lifted Meg's spirits imeasurably. Ruth really seemed to be turning into a different woman.

They were just about to call her when the phone rang. It was the girls sounding all excited. "Their mom," they announced, "had started college over the summer. She hadn't let them tell anyone just in case, but she had gotten straight A's. She was going to get a degree in social work."

Fox suddenly felt unimaginably happy. He felt awful when he saw the look on her face when he told Dana he had to go out yet again. " I'll be back early, sweetheart...I promise."

Dana made a cup of herb tea and studied the baby clothes before getting to work on some reports. Fox kept disappearing. Where the hell could he be going? If he had a lead on Samantha, surely he would tell her, wouldn't he? She had a sudden pang of fear. What if he was in danger and trying to hide it from her....or what if? They hadn't been able to make love since the spotting incident. It was just too painful for her, and after she had started to spot, they had both been terrified. She found other ways to love him of course, other ways that he liked a lot, but she knew he missed their old relationship and so did she. She began to think about that new agent that had come on board....Heather Schmidt...that was her name. The woman had taken one look at Fox, and you could feel the temperature rising. Heather was gorgeous, 5'10" with waist length brown hair and a knock out figure. She also had the reputation for being one who was not as skeptical of Spooky Mulder's wild theories as some. Could it be? No....Fox would never cheat on her....but he was only human....No...absolutely not.....She finished her report When Fox came back that night, she smelled liquor on his breath. Where could he be going that he was drinking?

* * *

"The estate has decided to accept your offer....Mr. Mulder....." The man stood up and shook his hand.

"Uh...great..." said Fox...."Uh....that's wonderful news.." They had just given the chair a good swift kick. He was really hanging now, swinging with the worst of them. He had had a dream the night before in which he had been hanging from a scaffold with a Sold sign around his neck. It looked as though dreams really did come true, well nightmares anyway. Oh, well, it was for Dana. She had been so sweet, never mentioned the house again although everytime they walked past it he would catch her looking. All the little baby clothes his mom had sent would be stacked on top of the bureau. She really did have no place to put them, but she had never said a word. He had hated to leave her tonight. She had seemed so happy. What must she be thinking about his absences?

"Starting to swing, huh, Mulder?" asked Skinner with a malicious grin. Fox had asked him to accompany him on this little foray to the real estate agent's office. He had been rather flattered. "Someone just kicked the chair out from under you? I'll never forget when Annie and I bought our first house. It felt like a ball and chain that chewed up dollars." Seeing the look of horror on his son-in-law's face, he slapped him across the back. "Come on, I'll buy you a drink, Mulder. You look like you could use one."

* * *

Scully sauntered down to Mulder's office with the reports for him to sign stacked neatly in her arm. They were supposed to go out of town the next day on another case. When she got there, however, Mulder and Schmidt were huddled over something on the computer. Dana could smell her perfume halfway across the room. She was standing awfully close to Fox.

"Ahem..." said Dana clearing her throat. Heather did not look happy at her sudden arrival. Well, at least this time she had her hair pinned in a very tight chignon as regulations dictated. Someone obviously had spoken to her. That hair could be used against her in a fight, and thought Dana evilly, if she caught the young agent standing so close to Fox again in the future, she might just be the one to cease the advantage.

"Oh, hi Scully," he smiled his face lighting up when he saw her. "Got those reports ready?"

"Of course...."

"Well, you are off the hook for Oregon tomorrow. Heather has an interesting theory on this case, but I won't need a partner. It's just going to be an overnight trip, and they'll assign whoever I need out there.

* * *

Dana picked up his suit and while dinner cooked, she packed his bag. Then she went and looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't really showing...not yet. She had had to buy extenders for the waist on some of her more fitted suits, and still experienced an occasional bout of nausea, but she didn't look really pregnant or anything...okay, so maybe just a little. Okay, so she was showing. Okay, so she was getting big faster than she had planned, but she was short after all. Her breasts were bigger. She'd had to buy larger bras. Guys...Fox...liked big breasts. I mean just because it was so uncomfortable to be touched there right now... He could look. She wanted to go to Oregon with Fox. She didn't want to stay home and do autopsies. She didn't trust that Heather person either. And, he had been so secretive lately with the smell of liquor on his breath...."No," she thought, "No, you are not going to get jealous. Fox loves you and you are not going to be paranoid about Heather either." Davis was a fluke. They wouldn't try that again...no...it had failed so dismally they would know better....

When he came home, she pretended not to be worried. That night, as they fell asleep in each others arms, he kissed her and murmered how much he loved her and would miss her, but before she could beg him to let her come to Oregon, he was sound asleep. She sighed, hoping that whatever it was that was causing her to have difficulties with lovemaking would pass soon. Maybe they were both just nervous.

* * *

With hands that he could barely keep from shaking, Mulder signed the papers. He thought idly that hanging seemed to take an awfully long time. He'd been swinging on the noose forever or so it felt. Well, death couldn't be far off now. He handed over the check and took the keys. It was all his now, leaky roof, rusted furnace, broken central air, antique kitchen....yes....all his. He shook hands with the settlement attorney and thought about Bruckman. Maybe this was what Bruckman had meant in the car that day when he talked about autoerotic asphyxiation...He did feel short of breath...trouble was that there was nothing erotic about it.....Fox Mulder....Harry Homeowner....Jeez...Life had been far simpler in his tiny dark apartment on Capital Hill. Now he had a bird and a dog and a wife talking about minivans and a kid on the way and a house....Oh, God, a house. He could handle the shrieking filthy mouthed bird, the dog peeing on his shoes and biting his ass, his neatnik wife throwing up every morning and itching with a yeast infection every night, a million nieces and nephews spitting and drooling all over him, even baby sitting with Skinner. He might, heaven forbid, might be able to tolerate driving a minivan, but a house.....aw jeez....give him aliens and mutants any day! Green bugs sounded good...maybe millions of roaches....no....there were probably billions, no zillions, of those in the damn house.......and he couldn't even call on Dr. Bambi....

"Are you sure you feel up to this, Mom?" he asked.

"Of course I do." Margaret smiled at him. She was actually feeling rather good for a woman of her age in her condition. Much of the tiredness had dissipated. Besides she had always loved a party and this one would make Dana so happy. "Anyway, Melissa will help, right Missy?"

"Sure, Mom. We'll call the caterer together," she laughed looking around the rather filthy dump that Mulder seemed so proud of himself for having purchased. Sheesh, what could he have been thinking? She knew her mom was trying to involve her in the festivities. She had been laying really low since the pregnancy had started. In truth she had been miserable almost the entire time...awful morning sickness....then miserable allergies to everything...and now her flawless skin was breaking out and she was gaining too much weight. Chuck seemed to be working all the time these days and it was as though he found her unattractive, unlike Mulder who seemed ridiculously dazzled by the fact that his wife was getting a belly and big boobs. Dana of course had that flawless skin and glowed. She knew all of these inconveniences would pass, but it wasn't helping much right now. The one delightful thought was that they were going to have a little boy. Also she had had an excuse to foist the dog that Chuck hated so much onto Fox. The thought filled her with glee. Dana had told her the dog had bitten his ass. It was too bad that Skinner would have to be at the party. Melissa couldn't really stand the man especially after the fight she had had with him recently about the fact that he should have been more careful about birth control. She had really given him what for, but they had finally both agreed to hold their peace for her mother's sake. Still, she was not about to forget the way he had accused her of being more concerned with her own personal embarrassment than her mother's health. She and her mom had been estranged because her father hadn't loved her as much as he had Dana and had disagreed with everything she did. Now it seemed like she was reliving it again with someone who wasn't even related, but she didn't want to hurt her mom anymore. After all, Mom did love the creep. Between her mother and sister, they certainly had odd taste in men, although judging by the changes she had seen in her sister, Dana's was probably damned good in bed. "You just get Dana here, Fox, and we'll take care of the rest," she told Fox thinking about how Skinner would probably never talk to Dana the way he had spoken to her. Dana was his favorite too. Fox winced silently. Everytime Melissa called him Fox he wanted to throttle her, but she was his sister-in- law and what could he say? He grinned and bore it.

* * *

That afternoon Fox and Dana went for a long walk. They stopped for cappucino, well, for him anyway, and sat and gazed at each other across the table as she sipped yet another cut of herb tea. He took her into a maternity store and bought her a dress, a pretty dress suitable for the cooler autumn. Fall was her season and the colors her very best with her beautiful red hair that seemed thicker and more shiny than ever these days. Dana was really starting to show, and he felt proud walking along side of her, but found himself blushing in front of the sales clerks, and then laughing as she came out of the dressing room with the pillow that made her look so big. He knew she was unhappy that he had left her behind when he had gone out of town, but it couldn't be helped. He had, at least, gotten out of taken Agent Schmidt with him even the possibility being something he didn't care to discuss with his wife. Then they passed a baby store.

"Oh, look, Fox...what a beautiful crib!" she exclaimed looking at the light oak finish and the lovely carving of the lion laying down with the lamb on the end. This was an expensive item, probably custom made.

"Looks like jail to me, Babe," he replied with a grin.

She laughed. "You are impossible, Mulder."

"Want it?" he asked her.

"We have no place to put it," she replied ever practical. They would have to stick with a bassinet or porta crib as long as possible in their already full bedroom. "Besides, Susan is going to give me her old one when the time comes. It's white and kind of pretty."

"Well, we'll see."

As they walked home, they passed the house. A Sold sign hung in large letters on the post in the small front yard. Someone had cleaned it up and repaired and painted the shudders a lovely color and the door a rich blue. A claddagh doorknocker of highly polished brass had been screwed into place. Dana sighed. Someone had taste remarkably similar to hers. When the wrought iron was painted and the garden fixed in the spring, the house was going to be lovely. She took Fox's hand and walked on silently. She hoped that there would be love in the old house, love like that which she shared with her husband. As for Fox, he was aware that she was disappointed that the house had been sold. He loved her so much for not saying anything to him. Letting go of her hand, he slipped an arm around her. Dana looked up at him and smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you get the candy for the trick or treaters?" he asked.

"For the fourth time yes, but we don't get very many," she replied. Fox was acting really weird. She had expected flowers or a romantic breakfast, or something, but he had been ignoring their anniversary all day. For her part, she had bought him some gifts including a Marvin the Martian watch as a joke and planned to give them to him later, but he didn't seem to remember that it was anything except Halloween. Now if there had been any trick or treaters last year, she hadn't known it. She had been too busy getting married and doing other things that night. She was starting to feel a little hurt. Well, she supposed that was her Fox. He waxed and waned on things like birthdays and anniversaries, and she supposed that this was better than having him in his lunatic mode the way he had been last Christmas or his 12 year old mode as he had during that horrible amusement park excursion she'd been forced to endure. At least he wasn't insisting on answering the door dressed as some sort of monster and scaring the little kids half to death just to get into the swing of things.

It was in the middle of dinner, hamburgers and homemade fries, the kind he liked but that she didn't make very often because she didn't often have time, when the phone rang. "Yes, Sir....Yes......We'll be right there. Of course it's no trouble Sir.....I know we are the closest...No problem..."

"That was Skinner..." he said handing her her coat. "We have a case...."

"But.....what sort of case....." she sighed. She had lain his gifts on the coffee table but he hadn't seen them, and she had cooked this silly unhealthy meal....

"A bizaar murder...two blocks up....requested FBI help. Looks like it might be something for us...."

She slipped into her professional mode and got her weapon.

When they arrived, the place seemed deserted. A breeze blew making the autumn leaves rustle along the sidewalk. Dana glanced at the moon. It both looked and felt like Halloween. The place suddenly gave her the creeps.

"Oh, God, Mulder," she said, "It's the house we looked at....Are you sure it's the right address? No one is here." What was lovely on a bright sunny day appeared sinister on Halloween night, especially with a possible murderer lurking nearby. And, where were the police?

"Told you this place was bad luck," he muttered pulling his gun. "Be careful, Scully. I'll go first."

They opened the door which was unlocked and went into the living room shining their flashlight. The place seemed deserted but there was a table laden with food along one wall and a banner....and suddenly people sprang out from all over the place....and yelled "Surprise!" The lights came on. Fox put his gun away and laughed.

"Oh, God....oh my God...." gasped Dana. They had frightened her so badly her heart pounded.

"Happy Anniversary, Scully," he grinned.

"But...but...but...."

"Stop sounding like an asthmatic choo choo train, Sis," laughed Bill, "and give the man a kiss."

"You mean?"

"It's all ours," he smiled.

"Oh, Fox....." She fairly leapt into his arms. She was totally and completely surprised.

Then she informed him in no uncertain terms that she had been so frightened she might have shot someone by accident.

"No way, Short Stuff," he laughed, "I'm not that crazy. I took the bullets out!"

* * *

Someone popped a bottle of champagne and sparkling cider for pregnant people. They toasted Fox and Dana with Bill adding an extra to Mulder for having provided his firm with such a profitable home improvement job and thus his family with a nice staid green mini-van.

"Let's stop the mushy stuff and eat," said Michael Scully now nearly 14 and already taller than most of his female relatives. Everyone laughed and commented that that boy just couldn't seem to get enough food in him. Fox ruffled his hair and told him to dig in.

* * *

His arm around her, Fox led his wife through the house. Bill accompanied them.

"We've put a primer on everything," he explained. "Tomorrow you pick the colors you want for the different rooms, and we'll do that and then refinish the floors."

"Oh, wow," she gasped. 

"Now, we've insulated the service porch and put in the washer dryer connections, but you need to let me know what you want to do about the kitchen and chose bathroom fixtures. I'll explain the details tomorrow."

"Do you know, I don't think I want you to do much with the kitchen Bill. I love the old cabinets....I'll let you know." She noted that the glass in the China cabinets had been repaired and the old chandelier polished.

"That is one ugly light fixture," laughed Fox. It had a hideous spidery shape and was surrounded by a molding made of fat little Putti holding grape leaves.

"We can replace it later," she laughed agreeing with him. The shadows it would cast at night would frighten a little one to death. 

Then Fox took her upstairs alone. There, just off the master bedroom in the lovely little sitting room sat the crib she had admired. "It's handmade by the Amish," he informed her.

"Oh, Fox....." She put her arms around him and they kissed for a long long time before moving on to the next room. Then he took her into the room with the guardian angel where matching furniture sat waiting for the room's occupant. "For my baby girl," he said with a smile. "Do you think she will like it?"

"I think she will love it." Dana looked up above the door. "That's your real gift, Fox Mulder...guardian angels.." He smiled and hugged her close before they went downstairs.

* * *

"Hey," said Chris, "You two were gone so long that if Dana wasn't pregnant we'd have sworn you were up there making one...."

That brought raucous laughter.

"I know how to make a baby," announced Eileen loudly in very adult fashion.

"You can explain it later, Eileen," said Meg quickly before the child could elaborate. 

Dani ran to her Uncle Fox and begged to be picked up. Sean's dad bounced him on his arm. Michael and Eileen started to bicker while Maureen dealt with a dirty diaper. Melissa seemed kind of unhappy with Chuck out of town, and Skinner found himself thinking that if she would just stop sulking, this family business wouldn't be half bad. His sister, of course chose that moment to make a smart remark about "tight assed Wally" causing Meg to burst into a fit of giggles. People were making noises about getting on the road. It was a school night for some or a work night for others. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Well, it was Halloween after all. 

"Probably neighbors complaining about too much noise already," laughed Skinner. He couldn't quite get used to all this family but realized he was going to. The thought made him more relaxed suddenly. He was adapting.

* * *

With Dani in his arms, Fox went to the door. His mouth dropped open in shock.

A tiny woman in her sixties with blue hair in a tight frizzy perm dressed in a loud tye dyed suit with fingers covered in huge gaudy rings worse than the engagement ring Fox had originally threatened Dana with stepped in the door and dropped a rather large suitcase on Fox's foot. Around her shoulders hung a long dark cape. 

"Good evening," she announced in a loud brassy voice, "I'm Aunt Sophia, and I am going to move into the apartment downstairs....."

Everyone stared silently. Fox handed Dani to her dad.

"Uh....Aunt Sophia...." he said. God, he hadn't seen her in years. She looked good....as eccentric as ever, but good....even with a blue afro and Dracula cape.

"Well, you are going to need someone to watch those babies aren't you?" she demanded pointing at Dana, "No grandniece and nephew of mind is going into a daycare center!"

"Uh.....it's only one Aunt Sophia..."

"We'll see. Give your aunty a hug, Mulder....and yes, I know the downstairs is a dump, but we'll have it fixed up in no time."

He did just that, not knowing what else to do. Aunt Sophia had never asked for a hug in his life, but this was the aunt who had raised him for four years and then disappeared as soon as he had gone to Oxford. He had loved her in a strange fashion. She was a strange person.

"Not so mushy, Mulder," she said breaking away and turning to Dana, "The cards were right," she said mysteriously, You are absolutely lovely. Don't you worry about a thing. I won't bother you and I'll take good care of the babies when they comes..."

Somehow, Dana wasn't worried. The woman appeared crazy, but there was something about her that seemed comforting, almost like Gran. She hoped Aunt Sophia wouldn't be disappointed that she was only getting one. The sonogram had said so.

"And you must be Margaret.... " she said to Meg. "We'll be great friends. We can push the baby carriage together...."

"Aunt Sophia....how do....." stuttered Fox.

"There now dear, Aunt Sophia sees all, knows all and says little or nothing....Melissa dearest, when my things arrive tomorrow you'll have to come and see my crystals and don't you worry, you'll come to be very fond of your stepfather if you just relax and for heaven sake, stop worrying about zits. They will go away." Melissa's mouth dropped open. This woman had a very strange aura, unlike anything she had ever encountered before. It was...alarming.

* * *

Dana had insisted that Aunt Sophia spend the night on their sofa bed which the woman did only with great reluctance. She said she'd slept on the floor of worse places than the downstairs apartment of her nephew's new house. She announced that she would buy a bed the next day and move into the apartment, and they could just paint around her as well as do the wiring to her specifications. Dana remembered suddenly that Fox's furniture was still in storage and explained about the couch. They all laughed when Aunt Sophia informed them that it sounded perfect and she would arrange to have it moved in immediately. She laughed with delight when she saw the silly watch Dana had gotten her nephew for their wedding anniversary, then announced that she was tired and needed to get some sleep.

* * *

"Something is missing," murmured Dana curled up in Fox's arms. They had made love, and it had been okay, and were content and relieved.

"Thing...Thing is missing. He's sleeping with Aunt Sophia..."

"Do you miss him?" 

"Well, I guess that depends on whether or not you are talking about the dog that bites my ass or the little fur ball that curls up on my neck," he replied.

"I love you so much, Fox....Tell me about Aunt Sophia..."

"Not much to tell," he sighed shifting his position. "After Samantha....after my father...." he struggled for the right words, "After my father beat me, social services dug her up and sent me to live with her in New York City. She's dad's older sister, but she took what money she could and ran away on her eighteenth birthday. She made a lot of money with a computerized fortune telling business long before computers became popular, with a machine she built herself but never bothered to patent...I don't think she particularly wanted a young boy around, but she did the best she could...."

"She seems eccentric..." smiled Dana.

"Well, she is that, love. The truth is, looking back, I think she was good for me. She was the first one who really appreciated my intellectual capacity and was eccentric enough to ignore my....strangeness. She sent me to an excellent private school on one hand, but let me roam the streets of Manhattan on the other. I missed her when she disappeared, but I didn't question it because she was...well...Aunt Sophia.." He lapsed into silence remembering how he played basketball in the park with tough kids one day and roamed the Natural History Museum the next. He had been helpless with her computers, but she had forced him to read good books. "Dana, her moving in....I mean....maybe you don't....."

"We'll try it, sweetheart," said Dana quietly. "It may be perfect. I like her. Let's see, okay?"

"Okay....I just don't want anything to come between us...."

"Thing already has," she giggled cuddling a little closer.

* * *

Fox stopped by the house and looked around with satisfaction. All of the painting had been completed, and the floors refinished. Dana had been right. Once it was cleaned up, it was quite beautiful. Suddenly he heard rattling around in the closet. Opening the door Aunt Sophia popped out looking dusty and a bit warm wearing old jeans and an I believe in UFO's t-shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?" he inquired. She had a small glowing light in one hand and some strange small tool in the other.

"I'm installing the security system of course," she replied.

"AmSec is coming to do that..."

"Those idiots? No way. I could get through their system in 10 seconds flat. I cancelled the order...Besides, AmSec people can be bribed. I can't...."

"Aunt Sophia....." he began. _Now I know where I get my paranoia._

"Listen, this is a system that I invented. Not even aliens from outer space can get past it, theoretically. Trust your Aunt Sophia on this will you? You don't think I'm going to let them get your children the way they got to Samantha do you?"

"What do you know about that?" Fox demanded putting his hands on her arms, the security system forgotten. 

Dana chose that moment to come in with some sandwiches and a thermos of coffee and some ice tea and fruit juice.

"Oh, hi Aunt Sophia.. Thought we might have a snack. How is it coming along? Hi, Fox."

"Just fine if my nephew would let me finish."

"What do you know about Samantha?" he demanded again.

"Not enough," she sighed. "I need to take a break. Come on. We'll talk. Light the fire, Mulder. I love a nice fire even if it is gas."

"The one disappointment about the house..." he muttered. The fire places had been gas. Oh, well. The three of them sat on the floor on some wildly colorful cushions that Sophia had made appear and Dana passed around sandwiches and poured coffee. She handed Fox and ice tea she had bought just in case and took an orange juice for herself.

"Mulder," said Sophia quietly, "there are some things that are very difficult to talk about, and in truth, I am not certain what happened to Samantha, but I can tell you that I was taken too.."

"What?" he demanded.

The older woman gazed into the flames. "Mama was a gentle soul....and that bastard...broke her...broke her health and her heart, and someday....someday I'll be able to prove that he supported the Nazi's..." She sounded bitter and hard edged for a moment and then pulled herself together. "When I was sixteen, your grandfather came to my room one night. When he left, I was pregnant."

"My, God..." burst out Dana.

"God had nothing to do with it, believe me. Three months later, I was taken. I don't remember very much, a white place...a bright light...pain....and when I was returned, I wasn't pregnant anymore and Mama was dead."

Dana winced, "I remember that place," she said softly, "in my dreams sometimes." Aunt Sophia said nothing merely gazing at Dana with compassion. She was aware of Dana's abduction as well. For Dana's part, she thought she might introduce Aunt Sophia to the women in Allentown one day. Was it really possible that it had started even before the war?

The woman sipped her coffee. " I slept with a knife under my pillow and then stole what money I could as soon as I could, and ran away. I never went back, at least not that anyone knew. When I read about Samantha in the paper, I wasn't surprised."

"Who do you think took her?" asked Dana.

"What I think is that the people your father worked with, y our grandfather worked with, planned on taking Samantha. Then, your father decided to play headgames and told them that Samantha was his favorite thinking that they would take you believing you to be the one. They were wise to him. They knew she was his precious little girl. They were great at doing psychological profiles. I did try to keep my eye on things when I could...told your father if he ever touched her....but I never wanted to stay on the phone long enough for them to trace a call. They planned to take Samantha instead. I'm sorry that that hurts, Mulder. It's just the way things were and I never wanted them to know where I was when I called...or when I snooped. I was afraid too. I let social services find me in Manhattan when I read in the local paper about....what happened...but I was prepared to disappear with you again if I had to."

"I'm aware of a lot of this Aunt Sophia...but how do you know?" asked Fox. This woman was a real mystery.

"I've been following your work," she replied enigmatically and changed the subject quickly. "I also think that someone or something else got there first. I think they might have saved her. I don't know for certain."

"Actually, I've been having similar thoughts," replied Fox.

"It explains your father's rage when you couldn't remember. I think he had hoped that you might have heard something that might lead him to where she was being kept and when you couldn't....." Sophia sighed. "Bill was such a sweet little baby...always laughing until...until he...daddy beat it out of him. Billy couldn't do anything to please him....anything. I know he did the same to you, Mulder....not as bad perhaps....but bad.....He did it all to please daddy, and in the end daddy could never be pleased. I can't believe the old bastard is still alive..."

"Aunt Sophia," said the younger man gently.

"What, Mulder?"

"Call me Fox..." he smiled ever so slightly. The older woman nodded. "Well, I guess I better get back to work here..."

"I feel a whole lot better knowing you are installing the security yourself," said Fox getting to his feet. "I have a letter I want to show you later. I think you will appreciate it....but I have to explain about the gray banshees."

"Mul....Fox, may I ask you a favor?" asked the older woman not blinking an eye at the remark about banshees. "I mean, if you don't mind, Dana."

"What Aunt Sophia?"

"The bedroom in the apartment is rather large. I'd like to have it divided.....in case....well, just in case we ever find her, I'd like to have a room for her....my niece, the one I never knew...I can't have children you see. They took care of that...whoever they are....."

"Of course," he said quietly, "You make the arrangements with Bill and send the tab to me.." Fox looked at his aunt. Then he and Dana exchanged glances and realized how lucky they were. Dana was pregnant.

"Not necessary," grinned his Aunt. She had learned to deal with the fact of her sterility a long time ago. "I'm a wealthy woman and I'm lucky. I'll have little babies to hug and hold and take care of at a time in life when that doesn't usually happen. That reminds me. I'd better get out those baby books I bought and reread them..."

* * *

Fox wouldn't let his wife lift a finger. The movers were to pack everything, well almost everything. Krycek and Thing were already at the house with Aunt Sophia. In fact, she had more or less adopted both of them informing Dana that Krycek's constant revelations about their love life was more entertaining than her favorite TV show UFO Chasers. Maybe they should have been embarrassed, but they weren't. In fact, they got a kick out of the way she put ribbons in Thing's fur, and donning her loudest clothing went out with him and pretended to be the new neighbor's eccentric and rather loud tenant. It was almost as though it was a persona she were trying to cultivate for the outside world, while in her home she had turned the dining room into a computer lab with very sophisticated equipment( with the foresight to make it childproof by making certain doors closed over everything.) At home, she was actually rather quiet and didn't interfere. And, she had done incredible things with Mulder's old furniture using color afghans and cushions, informing them that is was perfect. It was so ratty looking and awful that it wouldn't matter what the kids did to it!

"Obviously the best the Salvation Army had to offer," she had grinned when she had seen it. Fox had looked at her rather sheepishly because, in fact, that was exactly where he had gotten a lot of it.

* * *

"Fox, I'm not an invalid," protested Dana as he took the vase out of her hand, "and that was Grandma Scully's vase..."

"They will pack it carefully, Dana...Now you just relax..." he said dropping it on the floor causing it to shatter. Dana winced. Oh well, it had really only been a five and dime store item. What the heck...sentiment....oh well... So it went all day long until finally the movers carried out the bedroom furniture leaving the room empty and desolate looking. Dana bent down to pick up a scarf that had been dropped behind the dresser a long time ago, and when she looked up, her husband was standing there regarding the room with tears in his eyes.

"What?" she asked gently crossing the room to him. And then suddenly she understood. He hadn't wanted to buy a house, hadn't wanted to move, because he loved it here with her.

"I've been so happy here," he whispered.

"I know. So have I, but we'll be happy in the new house. You'll see." She put her arms around him. "We'll be a real family, you and me and the baby and Aunt Sophia, and the monster creatures, and who knows....maybe one day...Samantha..."

"I know. In my heart, I know that but....this is the first place I was ever really happy, and it's hard...you know..."

"I understand. I really do..." she replied, and she stood with him holding on to him for a long long time.

* * *

Pleading exhaustion, although she hadn't done anything, she suggested that Fox go out for some Chinese food and bring it back. He did so without complaint although he was tired himself. The moment he was gone, Dana raced up the stairs and unpacked the sheets and covers that she had put in a suitcase. Quickly she made the bed and lit the gas fire. Trotting down to the kitchen, she filled an ice bucket and popped in a bottle of sparkling cider that had been left from the party and found two glasses...Looney Tunes jelly jars as it turned out..Marvin the Martian and Tweety and Silvester. Then quickly she headed upstairs and slipped into the lovely nightgown she had bought for their first night in their new home.

"Dana," called Fox returning home.

"I'm upstairs," she replied, "Bring the food up here, will you sweetheart?"

He stopped in his tracks when he walked in the door. Although the room contained boxes, she had made up the bed with clean sheets and lit the fire, and she lay stretched out in a long gold colored nightgown, the bulge in her middle very obvious. Her hair fanned out against the pillow. He swallowed. They drank cider pretending it was champagne toasting each other and the house. They made love, food temporarily forgotten, and then he lay with her rubbing the bulge in her abdomen.

"Oh," gasped Dana suddenly. Fox had felt it too. Movement....his baby moving inside her. 

"Oh, Dana..." he whispered, "mine, all mine..." He nuzzled her neck and felt the little butterfly inside her move again.

"Fox....I'm so glad you were with me tonight...the first time it happened..." She turned to him and smiled. In truth, she had felt it before when he hadn't been around, but never wanted him to know that. She decided that in this case a little dishonesty was okay. This had to be a special moment between them. It was important for him.

"You know what...." he whispered, "I think you were right about this house....Already it's a special place...." Fox knew darn well she was lying, but appreciated that she wanted it to be special for him. That made it special.

"I'm always right...." she announced sitting up with a grin. He smiled at her. "I'm starved, Fox. Let's go warm this stuff up in the microwave if we can find it and eat. Now that we've broken in the bedroom, it's time to use the kitchen. The two of them trailed downstairs and ate their dinner on a pile of cartons. Beneath them they could hear Krycek yelling, "Help, Murder. Help, Murder....Open you legs, Scully...."

"Think I'll call Bill in the morning," said Fox.

"Why?"

"Time to get Aunt Sophia's ceiling soundproofed."

"Krycek isn't bothering me," said Dana.

"Well, maybe not, but you never know what might happen on the kitchen table that we don't want Aunt Sophia to hear." He winked, and Dana laughed.


End file.
